He only "manufactured a controversy" if you think he believes Lin will start, or is likely to start. McHale is looking to develop the best team for the season. It looks like he believes Beverley is the best candidate for PG. Better to get working on that now during the pre-season when any "controversy" will quickly blow over, rather than dragging the issue out all the way into the start of the season.
Response I agree with you. I laughed at the statement that "Lin hasn't prove[n] to be starting material this year". During two games, Lin showed he definitely improved. I would say if Rockets did not have a player named Harden, Lin would definitely be starting. From purely personal point of view, Bev is lucky that Harden is on Rockets; Lin is not. Even coach Mac (who I believe resents the Linsanity ever happened) would start Lin over Bev if Harden was not here. Having said this, I like Bev and his attitude also.
Whether he starts or not doesn't change the fact that he is a very marketable player. Just because a player is very marketable does not mean they must start. I don't understand your logic here.
Response Hey, Rockets can do whatever they want; they are paying Lin's salary. Lin can do whatever he wants when his contract expires. But as a professional, Lin will and should play his best no matter what. I just don't know whether paying $8 Mill cap per year to a 6th man can last longer than 1 year. It will be interesting to see.
You and I have different definitions of "manufactured". The fans react to an action by management/players/coaches. The individuals who originate that action are responsible for the results, not the people who react to it. If someone in the workplace makes an obviously prejudicial remark, are the customers and employees responsible for reacting to those remarks? Would you claim that debates over sexism are manufactured by women reacting to those remarks? Or that the person who made those insensitive remarks are responsible for the reactions? McHale made the roster decision, he was the point of origination, and the reactions of various subsections of fans was both foreseeable and predictable. IE, McHale is responsible for the creation of the controversy. I couldn't care less about McHale's welfare other than as a fellow human being. It doesn't change the fact that as a business case study, it's a bonehead move. Not the worst since the beginning of time by any means, but I think anyone who has a lick of PR or Marketing experience would have smacked him upside the head had they been informed that this was his plan ahead of time. Your concern over winning basketball games is a perfect example of a straw man argument. Since minutes allocation and roster roles are the ultimate determinant of in-game team line ups, then the decision to start or not start Lin has zero impact on the in-game line ups, ie, no impact on winning. You can easily achieve the same minute distributions in the line up and still have Lin start, still give Beverley the same minutes on the floor with the same roster of players, and the same number of opportunities to establish chemistry with the other members of the roster. This of course was my core point initially, IE that it was a pointless change with obvious perception consequences that gained the team nothing.
I agree! Congress needs to put aside trying to settle the government shutdown and focus on adding "basketball talent" to the protected classes.
It was only pointless if Beverley isn't the starter at the beginning of regular season. If he is going to be the starter, then doing it overseas gives things a chance to blow over while you are not there to bear the brunt of it. Far more interesting to me than the starting question is the total minutes between the two, and that will give a clear indication of what the Rockets are thinking now and moving forward.
who cares who starts? 96 guard minutes to go around between basically 3 players. That's plenty. What I DON'T want to see if constant changes during the regular season.
I'm ok with alternate starts at the PG and PF. This is not a knock on Lin. Rockets 2nd unit did better with Lin on the floor than Beverly. Rockets 1st unit has enough playmakers. Rockets still have a lot of preseason games to experiment with this, and I'm almost sure Lin will start when they play in Taiwan.
With what i saw today i'm definitely for Lin as our 6th man ! he was great in that role and he could show of his offensive skill set and didn't have to take a step back to give the ball to Harden or Dwight... I think this would be a great solution for him and the team! And I believe PBev fits better with the starters as he doesn't need the ball as much to be effective than JLin... and this doesn't have to mean that JLin won't play with the starters... he can still play quality minutes with the starters aka Harden in OKC.... time will tell but this is very promising ... GO ROCKETS!
OK, my definition of "manufacture" is "make," and yours is "cause," it seems. I'll stand by my definition. Ah, I see. I was not saying anything about Lin starting. I was just saying I want the Rockets to win. You are saying you are interested in marketing and whether or not Lin starts. I would say you are the one who is focused on the wrong things.
I like the idea of alternating Bev and Lin. Although it might not apply so well in the regular season, it's something I will like to (and most likely) see come playoff time. I feel that it creates better match-ups and versatility that many other teams wish they had. I would also like to point out the experiment is necessary in-case of unfortunate accidents. If one of our point guards is out for a couple of games, I would like to have the peace of mind that we'll be fine until he comes back.
lin is not a superstar and not a thug. he doesn't have the leverage. mac has done that in the last season, benching him at the end of a few games. I would respect mac if he benches harden when harden doesn't play defense.
